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t s 1
Students' Voice
At the Inauguration
THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1968
NIGHT EDITOR: WALLACE IMMEN
New .Hampshire:
The Morning After
THE UNDERSTANDABLE euphoria sur-
rounding Senator Eugene McCarthy's
43 per cent showing in the New Hamp-
shire primary should not diminish per-
ception of the harsh realities still sur-
rounding the McCarthy candidacy. Real-
ities which beneath the surface look even
bleeker than before the primary.
The reason is that the victory by GOP
perennial Richard Nixon has gone far to
ensure a depressing Johnson-Nixon con-
frontation this fall.
CONSEQUENTLY the revelation from
New Hampshire that the Republicans
in no way have repented their elephan-
tine ways may be the signal that it's
William Scranton time for the Republi-
cans with the same discouraging results
in sight.
The emergence of Nixon as far and
away leading Republican in the race will
have a deadening effect on Senator Mc-
Marthy's campaign. And this is because
McCarthy's only selling point to the party
professionals was that Johnson is a loser.
However, the party stalwarts who
comprise most of the delegates to the
Democratic Convention seriously believe
that despite all primaries Lyndon John-
son can beat Richard Nixon in Novem-
ber. And there is far more behind this
political assessment than merely wish-
ful thinking.
MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, Nixon is espec-
ially unpopular among those voters
who are the most likely to desert the
Johnsonian coalition over Vietnam. The
spectre of "tricky-Dick Nixon" as the ul-
timate enemy is too ingrained a political
reflex for most liberals ever to shake.
Nixon, then, is the one Republican who
can guarantee that Democratic doves
won't vote Republican in the fall.
The problem generated by the inordin-
ate focus placed on the primaries is that
they impute a level of democracy to the
selection of a President unknown in party
politics.
Primary votes are only a fraction of
the total votes at the Convention, and
the rest of the seats in Chicago will be
filled by party stalwarts who know where
their loyalties lie. And the only thing
that can shake their loyalty to the White
House is the belief that Johnson can't
win. And the only thing which can shake
their belief that Johnson can't win is the
nomination of Richard Nixon by the Re-
publicans.
PUT IN THIS perspective, the McCarthy
primary campaign is perhaps a hope-
less irrelevance. Yet the Senator believes
that a strong showing by him in the pri-
maries at the very least will induce John-
son to take a more moderate stand in
Vietnam.
The problem with this approach is
that it presupposes that the President
has a series of options in Vietnam. Yet
the only real alternatives are escalation
or unilateral withdrawal. And no politi-
can in America will admit he favors unila-
teral withdrawal.
All those hopes by moderates for pro-
ductive negotiations accept a belief that
the North Vietnamese and the National
Liberation Front are eager to negotiate.
A far more likely assessment is that
American intransigence has begotten a
similar inflexiblity on the part of the
Vietnamese.
THE REAL DANGER of the McCarthy
candidacy is that it will convince the
students and the academics that there
is a place for their dissent within the
structure of the Democratic Party. But
alas, the McCarthy crusade is marching
with banners waving toward an inevit-
able defeat in August.
Consequently the legacy of the Mc-
Carthy candidacy may not be a changed
American foreign policy or even a chang-
ed Democratic Party. Rather it may be
the inadvertent diffusion of the growing
radicalism of the campus and suburbs.
THE EXCITEMENT the morning after
the New Hampshire primary illustrates
the real danger of playing electoral
politics at a time like this. And that is
forgetting you can't win in a system
where the deck is stacked by the incum-
bent.
-WALTER SHAPIRO
'Let's hear it for the newest Nixon . ..
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following
is the text of a speech given by
MzichaelDavis, Grad, at the in-
auguiration of President Robben WV.
Fleming Monday at Hill And.
I AM addressing this assembly
on behalf of the students of
the University of Michigan. It is
I think altogether fitting, and
should surprise no one, that the
students should, at the inaugura-
tion of the University's ninth pres-
ident, have so prominent a place;
the students, who, after the fed-
eral government and the State,
are the largest contributor to the
financing of the University; the
students who far outnumber fac-
ulty and administrators together;
the students without whom there
could be no University. Indeed,
what should surprise everyone is
that this is the first time students
have had so prominent a place.
It is altogether fitting that, on
this day of imposing formality,
a student should remind the rest
of the community of the issues of
substance that ought not to be
forgotten even here; fitting that
a student do the reminding be-
cause students are deeply con-
cerned; fitting that a student re-
mind you here, because, as it has
recently been the office of students
to raise the profound issues of life
in this community, it will be upon
the man inaugurated president this
day that the greatest burdens of
decisions will rest.
The University has been, but it
cannot long remain, an aristocracy.
FACULTY don't want to be
judged by students; but they want
to judge them-judge them not
simply on mastering or failing to
master the special skills the fac-
ulty teaches (and concerning
which the faculty are certainly
cmpetent to judge)-no, judge
them as men. I can document
grades given for haircuts, religious
beliefs, cowboy hats, bad hand-
writing, ironic response, political
activity. I know faculty who want
to decide everything from what a
student may wear to when and
whom he may marry: As if good
sense began with a B.A.! As if a
Ph.D. made someonea better man!
Yet raise the question of stu-
dent evaluation of teaching, of
students on tenure committees, of
student judging what they experi-
ence, suffer from, enjoy, day after
day, year after year, and faculty
pale, grimace, and talk of their
"senior status" Talk about' joint
student-faculty boards to hear
cases of academic dishonesty and
cases of unfair grading, and the
faculty break off the discussion.
Nevertheless, the time is near
when students will demand
equality and justice in these
things, as they have demanded
them elsewhere, and the faculty
will have to learn humility as
many 'administrators have al-
ready had to learn it.
Michael Davis
Reflections on a Sorry Sendoff
T!HE GREYHOUND Bus depot
on Huron is a pretty dismal
place in the early hours of the
morning. Seated at the long coun-
ter one can usually find a few
groups of factory workers-many
of them black-grabbing a cup of
coffee on their way to an early
shift. Seated in the chairs along
-the front windows one can usual-
ly find a few derelicts, old men
who seem to have no purpose in
life other than sitting in bus de-
pots - the same old men who
spend their days sitting around
the lobby of the County Build-
ing, only more shabbily dressed.
Such was the gloomy atmos-
phere of the place at 5:30 a.m.
yesterday when five people - all
members of the local draft resist-
ance group - entered the depot
to await the arrival of some 40-
odd young men who would board
a bus for the Fort Wayne Induc-
tion Center and their pre-induc-
tion physical.
As the vanguard of the poten-
tial draftees started wandering
in - singly - around 5:45, they
seemed tired and defected. One
wonders if they realize that they
will be standing around in lines
and obeying petty bureaucratic
details for nearly twelve hours.
Like the old men along the walls,
they were passive, hardly paying
attention as they walked in the
doors, but they accepted the leaf-
lets, and nearly all agreed, either
then or later, to talk about any
exemptions or deferments for
which they might be eligible.
NEARLY ALL the guys' homes
were in the Ann Arbor area, ex-
cept for a few college students
who had failed to get a student
deferment and had transferred
their point of embarkation for
convenience reasons. At least half
of the 40 were "townies" - guys
who worked in factories, garages
and gas stations - many of them
high school drop-outs, some un-
employed. This is the kind of guy
one doesn't meet wandering
around the campus, but this is
the kind of guy who needs to be
reached, because he is most af-
fected - and knows the least
about - the draft.
Of the seven or eight men I
talked to, nearly all were unaware
that they could ;request an ex-
emption because of physical dis-
abilities. This seemed to be equal-
ly true of those who had received
some college education and those
who were still in high school. All
were unaware that the draft
t
david
duboff
board was required by law to pro-
vide them with information, on
request, aboutall of the classifi-
cations for which they might be
eligible. While most seemed inter-
ested in finding out about exemp-
tions and deferments, only one
showed any real desire to carry
through with the appeal proce-
dures outlined for them.
A SOPHOMORE in c ol l e g e
hadn't received his 2-S since last
fall ,although he remembers re-
questing it. He didn't know that
le could request aehearing before
his local board. He also had per-
fectly flat feet, and several past
operations on both knees. He
hadn't looked into the possibility
of getting a physical exemption
for either of these disabilities, al-
though hehad heard that both
may qualify.
This resignation - bordering
sometimes on fatalism - seemed,
to me at least, to be characteristic
of nearly, everyone there. Such
comments as "they'll get you in
the end," and "what's the point
of putting it off?" ran through
most of the conversations. But
they were scared; it was obvious
from the plea in their voices, and
from the anguish in their eyes.
One boy, who had dropped out of
college after a year, kept saying
that if they took him right now
he'd go, but suddenly blurted out,
painfully: "What are you doing
to avoid th edraft? How have you
kept yourself out?"
IT WAS a cry for help that I
could not answer, because I knew
he would never be able to com-
prehend the abstract moral and
philosophical arguments that I
had built up reaching my decision
to embark on a course of total
non-cooperation.
This mood of powerlessness arnd
futility manifested itself in atti-
tudes to the war as well as the.
draft. Nearly everyone I ap-
proached vocalized, in some form
or another, this view held by a
Michigan State University stu-
dent: "Who am I to figure out
whether the war's right or wrong?
After all, there's 200 million peo-
ple in this country."
It would be impossible to gener-
alize from these experiences and
claim that every young man there
intended to submit himself pas-
sively for induction. Several indi-
cated that they had already ap-
pealed their 1-A classifications.
Several were openly critical of
the war, and a few even indicated
that they didn't intend to serve.
One guy, dressed in the dungarees
of a construction or factory work-
er, told one of the leafletters, "I
ain't goin' to this stupid war. I'm
going to Canada.- Another said,
"It's good to see someone here on
your side." And yet, no one agreed
to take our leaflets and pass them
out at the induction center, as
several had a month ago,
ONE LEARNS much more about
what the draft can do to people
through talking to these guys.
Students, sitting around in their
ivory campuses with their privi-
leged deferments tucked safely in
their pockets, can raise all kinds
of philosophical arguments about
the effect of the draft on the in-
dividual, and on society. They can
look at the situation objectively,
because they are removed from it
-they know that eventually they
will have to make a decision, but
they have faith in their ability to
find some viable alternative
But these scared and confused
young men on the way to their
physical have no such "psycho-
logical buffers," as one of the
other leafletters termed it. They
know that they may be inducted
within a matter of weeks; their
ambivalence, their frustration and
sense of futility; is a gut reaction,
not a carefully-thought-out ra-
tionalization. They knew they
were being coerced, and yet they
accepted it as a fact of life.
As we watched the men file on-
to the buses, none of us could
fully agree about what had ac-
tually transpired. I felt a sense of
despair and of hopelessness, a
feeling that I would never be able
to get through to these guys who
seemed to be living in a totally
different world.
OTHERS sensed a glimmer of
hope, a feeling implicit in many
of their conversations that the
guys were bitter about the war,
and that some would fight to re-
tain their dignity within the sys-
tem.
And yet, we could all agree that
if one man was reached, if the
information we provided will help
even one man to start thinking
about alternatives that can keep
him out of the army, the exper-
ience will not have been wasted.
This is a community. Let us
agree to that. This community
cannot be governed by all deciding
everything together. Let us agree
to that too. Still, it doesn't follow
that students may be ordered
about without their consent. For, if
this is a community, then the lo-
gically prior decision that some
shall give. orders to others must
be made again and again by all
together. If this is not a com-
munity, then there can be no
grounds for outrage when students
are ordered and do not obey.
YOU CAN'T have it both ways:
If you say "community," then the
whole University must be remade
so that this community, students
as well as faculty and administra-
tors, can give their free consent. If
you say "no community," then
you have no right to expect that,
where there's little democracy or
liberty, students will always prac-
tice the civilities of liberal demo-
cracy. That's the oldest truth of
our common political tradition.
Soon someone wil make decisions
concerning student traffic regula-
tions, classified research, finan-
cing student goverment, the tri-
mester, on-campus demonstrations,
late registration fees, university
judiciaries, tuition, academic just-
ice, curricular reform, tenure, con-
struction of student housing.
What those decisions will be
is important. But how they will
be made is more important. In-
sofar as they are made by com-
monly agreed-upon procedures,
they will bind us all. Insofar as
they are made in the old way,
they will be sand in our face.
That our new President has the
courage to serve, I have no doubt.
That he also has the wisdom and
knowledge to lead us well through
the profound transformation that
has already begun, we can only
hope, and wait, and see.
f
4
Bobby-Come-Lately
I Letters to the Editor
V
McCARTHY'S upstaging in New Hamp-
shire has forced New York Sen.
Robert Kennedy into a decision he has
been trying to delay until 1972.
The primary results showed Johnson
has an uphill fight against Richard
Nixon for the presidency in the fall. If
Nixon wins in November, which appears
ever more likely, the former Vice Presi-
dent would be in a difficult position to
dislodge in 1972, the target date Kennedy
has set for his cynosure.
Unless Kennedy tries to wrest the
Democratic nomination from Johnson,
he might as well kiss 1972 goodby. The
Senator had these fading prospects in
mind yesterday when he practically en-
tered the primary lists. "I am reassess-
ing my position as to whether I'll run
against President Johnson." he said.
Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Michigan,
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48104.
Daily except Monday during regular academic school
year.
Fall and winter subscription rate: $4.50 per term by
carries ($5 by mail); $8.00 for regular academic school
year ($9 by mail).
But McCarthy, bouyed by his New
Hampshire success and riding a crest of
student-powered campaign supporters-
many of them former Kennedy backers-
will not withdraw from the remaining
primaries. Democratic voters now face the
prospect of two peace candidates on the
ballots in Oregon and California, which
can only benefit Johnson's strangle-hold
on the August convention.
KENNEDY IS a Johnny-come-lately. He
verbally opposes the Administration's
Vietnam policy but held back from de-
claring his support when McCarthy dared
to enter a symbolic crusade. Now that
McCarthy has uncovered real political
support, Kennedy wants to cash in his
own popularity.
At best, Kennedy may only further
fragment an already fractured party and
usher in another eight years of do-
nothing Republicanism. At worst, he is
a cynical opportunist.
--DAVID KNOKE
Impropriety of 'Davis
To the Editor:
PLEASE number me among those
students not represented by
Michael S. Davis at the Inaugura-
tion of President Robben Wright
Fleming on March 11, 1968.
Mr. Davis was completely out of
order-his appearance, his tone,
his message.
Inherent in the acceptance of an
invitation to bring greetings in the
name of a group at such a cere-
mony is a charge to fulfill that of-
fice with dispatch, cognizant of the
honor it holds and in keeping with
the dignity o fthe occasion. If for
any reason whatsoever one feels
that he cannot in clear conscience
execute this assignment in the tra-
dition of the university and the
country involved, he should decline
the invitation.
Mr. Davis is yet to salute the
President on our behalf or to
pledge any positive action to be
taken by students to insure the
success of the Fleming adminis-
tration.
STUDENT DISSENT in all its
forms is a very old and necessary
element of our society, but so is
proper taste. I find no fault with
what Mr. Davis said or the tone in
which he said it and can think of
several situations involving stu-
dents, faculty and administration
where I would have applauded his
every word. But there and then
his message was inappropriate and
his tone rude. If his attempt was
to discredit the University, he suc-
ceeded, not by tarnishing an. i-
lustrous image of one hundred
fifty years' standing, however, but
by focusing an embarrassingly un-
favorable light on the largest single
entity of today's Michigan-her
students.
Perhaps when Mr. Davis and
the students he did represent take
over this University-or found
their own-presidential inaugura-
tions and the attendent pomp will
be done away with. Then that will
be the order of the day, and those
wrong with that-the minimum
sportsmanlike gesture initially
should have been the proper salu-
tation-his express assignment as
student representative on March
11, 1968.
-Ruth E. Thomas, Grad
'J'Accuse' You
To the Editor:
THE DAILY of March 19, 1968
carried an initialed article in
the editorial column entitled
"J'Accuse," which I feel must have
been meant as a satire. I can take
it no other way and still account
for the complete lack of knowledge
and information concerning the
Jewish history, theology, and cus-
tom. If the author were more fam-
iliar with the great Jewish theo-
logian and philosopher Moses Mia-
monides he would utterly reject
any such statement as "if the God,
of the Old Testament was not a
great God, he certainly fell into
the category of good deities." And
if he (the author) were familiar
with Jewish agadah (or the theo-
logian Rashi) he would realize that
the statement, "Without the sup-
port of a solid' base of-tradition,
the God of the Old Testament
acted swiftly to meet such un-
forseen challenges as Adam and
Eve's shift toward aggressive, ex-
pansionist apple-munching," is
totally without meaning in the
context of Jewish tradition.
Even as a satire I find the article
in poor taste, and imagine Emile
Zola to be cursing in his grave at
this moment, for I imagine he ap-
proached the Dreyfus case with a
great deal more seriousness than
W.S. approaches Mr. Kennedy and
the world situation. In short, the
article is in itself an insult to the
thirty centuries of Jewish tradition
which it implies, revealing a com-
plete lack of knowledge upon the
part of its author of Jewish his-
tory, theology, tradition, and cus-
tom. And ultimately an insult to
*
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